Diminishing Existance
by Ice Metal
Summary: A band of reploids struggles for survival in the desert, long after the Elf Wars have finished. Can they get the chance they need to survive against the odds?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own MegaMan, or any characters from said series, and do not claim them as my own, in any way. My characters are mine however, so do not use them without permission. I might bite you. ;) This applies to the whole story, in it's entirety.

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Author's introduction

These events take place in year 2XXX, and, while during the events of the Mega man Zero series, it has little interaction with the events, and everything will be eplained anyways. All events are set in a settlement far from Neo Arcadia, and is composed entirely of Reploids left behind after the Maverick and Elf wars. These Reploids have started a new life for themselves, and have no idea as to what is going on around the rest of the world; most have forgotten their own pasts and the various parts they played in the two aft-mentioned wars.

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Chapter One

As the sun reached its apex in the sky, a striped lizard poked his head out from under a rock, looking around for danger. Seeing nothing, he crawled out onto a rock to bask in the sun. Suddenly, he was toppled off his rock by the tailwinds of two passing craft. Looking up at the settling dust, he hissed.

Kroy looked back to check how close the other Ride Chaser was. 3 meters. Too close. He throttled the jet bike and accelerated. He had to pull ahead.

"I can't lose my cool, just have to pay attention to what's ahead of me," he thought.

Determined, he stared hard at the desert up ahead of him. Suddenly, he heard an explosion behind him. Glancing back, he no longer could see the other Ride Chaser.

"NO!" shouted Kroy as he turned back.

Coming up to the crash site, things did not look good. Twisted metal and fuel were littered and mixed with the sand and shrubbery. Looking under a rock outcropping, he saw who he was looking for.

"Deyl!" he called as he ran towards the figure. "Deyl! Are you alright? Answer me!"

As he approached, things looked pretty bad. Deyl was unconscious and his left hip and leg were shattered, exposing his delicate insides.

'_Oh no, please be alive!'_ Kroy thought feverously as he arrived.

He was relieved to discover that despite his injuries, Deyl was still alive. Acting quickly, he gently cleaned out Deyl's wounds the best he could, and covered them to prevent sand from getting in. That would be the last thing anyone needed

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Hours later, Kroy arrived at the settlement. Deyl's condition was still the same, and he would drift back into consciousness only to yanked back to sleep by the sudden, overwhelming pain. As Kroy approached the buildings, other reploids started to come see why there was one less craft. Among the crowd was Dente, the doctor.

"Dente!" shouted Kroy, "Deyl is badly hurt! We were racing and…and…"

Dente looked Deyl over. "Hmm…I will see what I can do. I'm sorry, but there are just so many factors that play against him…."

Kroy was distraught. He couldn't lose Deyl, his friend for so long it seemed like, no, it was, as long as he could remember.

"I can get his wounds sealed up, but he's lost lots of internal fluid, and what really matters is how much sand got in there."

Kroy understood this, as well as every other settlement reploid. Sand was one of their worst enemies right now. Even a little could wreak havoc if it got into their bodies. It could wear them out faster, immobilize them, or worse, it could turn them maverick, a state of mind which sent reploids berserk. Not because of some sinister qualities in the sand, but simply because it could disrupt their positronic minds and nervous system, leaving them in an unbearable pain they could not stop. Some reploids would kill themselves; others go mad and kill each other.

"I cleaned him up on site as best as I could. I hope that nothing important got crushed. We could never replace something like an internal reactor"

Ah yes, part shortage. Another in a long list of things the settlers had going against them. A lack of raw materials made technological progress nearly impossible, and getting things like spare motors or positron connectors new was very nearly impossible. Everything had to be recycled, and if a reploid died, they were forced to use what they could scavenge. They hated it, but they had no choice in the matter. So the settlements numbers were decreasing slowly, but very steadily.

Dente brought Deyl to his repair room and started to inspect his wounds. His leg joint was crushed beyond repair, and the metallic "skin" was torn up to just below his arm. Thankfully, his reactor and other major parts were not badly damaged.

Kroy helped Dente the best he could, and soon they had Deyl in a place where they would not have to worry.

"Thank heavens" breathed Kroy as they finished up. "He'll be alright."

"Yes" replied Dente "but he no longer can use that leg. It would probably be..."

Dente was cut off by a guard running into the room.

"They're here! They're coming quick! We've got to escape!"

Kroy and Dente were shocked. The mavericks had not attacked in a week. They thought they were safe.

"Get everyone out, now!" ordered Dente, "And fighting has to be used only as a last resort!"

There was an explosion. The attack had started.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Lagnas looked out over the scene before him. Below his outcropping on the cliff, the settlement was being destroyed, and panicked reploids ran from the carnage.

Yes, they ran, but they would not escape.

"Kendal, get over here."

"Yes, sir?" asked the lieutenant.

"How are things progressing?

Kendal bit his lip. He daren't tell him that most seemed to have disappeared.

"We are searching for them, sir; it seems they are good at hiding."

Lagnas said nothing. The tall reploid's thick armor was as tan as the desert he knew so well, and two black tubes pumped pure plasma from a generator on his back to a magazine storage on his chest. To Kendal, he was the meaning of fear.

"Am I dismissed, sir?"

"Yes, go back to the command post. I will join the party below" replied Lagnas.

As Kendal scurried off, Lagnas took a mighty leap off the cliff. This would be fun.

As Lagnas fell, his forearm folded inside out and expanded into a drill. Landing, he rushed forwards into a small group of fleeing reploids, piercing them all through with his Drill Crusher.

Pain shot through his other arm, and he turned to see another reploid shivering with fear, holding a small gun. As the reploid was surrounded by troops, Lagnas stepped forwards and addressed him.

"Who do you think you are, to try and destroy me?"

The reploid said nothing. Lagnas noted that this was not from fear, but from the bravery one can achieve when faced with death.

"No answer, eh? Well, I just might let you live if you tell me where they're headed"

At this, the reploid started in anger.

"You and your foul mavericks will never find them! I'll be scrapped if I tell you where they are! I may be as good as dead, but you will soon follow me! You can't fight again until you repair!"

The tan reploid burst into laughter.

"So, you are that loyal to your comrades? Loyal enough to stand up to Necrobe Lagnas!

You stayed behind, trying to buy them time, got in a shot and you think ol' Lagnas is in a fix? Fool! I have the parts I need to repair right here!"

Just as the reploid realized what Lagnas meant, Lagnas tore his arm right off his body.

"Well, well. Look at this. I had no clue that there was a spare arm part here. Hmm, I might as well go repair myself."

"Sir what do we do with him?" asked a soldier, motioning to the settler.

"Ah, keep him. You never know when we'll need the spare parts" laughed Lagnas.

"Oh, one more thing." Lagnas said, turning his head, "I want him to be kept alive."


	3. Chapter 3

Well, I've got a few reads, but no reviews. So, Love it? Review! Hate it? Review! As long as you explain what's bugging you, go ahead and post that dislike. Well, without flaming.

Chapter 3

A week after the attack by the mavericks, the settlers had set up a new camp in the mountains, as no one had ever ventured there before, they hoped it would be safer.

Kroy looked out over the vast desert. It was as if he could see forever. He heard footsteps behind him, and turned.

"Deyl! You've recovered!"

"Yeah, mostly" Said Deyl, motioning towards his injured leg. "I doubt that will get fixed anytime soon though."

"I'm glad you've recovered. You were a lot less injured than you looked, and it's definitely good you weren't injured by one of Lagnas' men."

Kroy turned, and looked out over the desert again.

"It is so frustrating, though. Lagnas and his men can attack us at any moment, and we can't do anything to fight back. Any attack on them would be worse for us in the long run."

Kroy paused for a moment. Deyl, taking advantage of this silence, spoke up.

"Cheer up, they can't keep this up forever. They'll all do themselves in, eventually. We just have to be better runners than they are fighters. Takes less work, no?"

"We don't have that long. They're getting better at tracking us, while we just run out of places to hide. While it's true that they may eventually end up destroying themselves, they have the advantage of not having someone attacking them and making it harder to survive."

Deyl paused, unsure of what to say.

"Deyl, do you remember those wars, so long ago?"

"A little, yes."

"What do you remember?"

"I will never forget the suffering and bloodshed of those awful wars. They seemed endless..."

"I remember was that there was always someone willing to fight for those that needed it, and even when faced with death, kept it up. If only we had someone like that today, someone who had the abilities needed to battle."

Deyl thought for a moment, and then commented.

"You know, you don't have to be designed for war to fight an enemy. If what you're saying is true, and you truly believe what you're saying, you seem to have the qualities of a warrior already."

Kroy was silent again.

"It takes more than will to destroy an army" he answered, "If you'll excuse me, I've got to go patrol the mountain's edge."

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The last rays of sunlight shone through the tent window and onto the various parts strewn about a small table, crudely constructed out of wood and boulders. Dente reached over to grab a piece, and was about to continue his work when Deyl walked in.

"Hello, Deyl. Can I help you with something? Is your wounded part bugging you?"

"No, it's fine" replied Deyl.

"... ...Ah, so you had that talk with Kroy, huh? How'd it go?"

"Good and bad. He has the will and the inner strength to fight, but he believes it cannot be won."

"Humph. Just like Kroy. He's going to drive himself mad like this, you know." Dente chuckled softly; "Never have I seen a reploid so convinced he must do something, and then he is so upset because he feels he can't do it, without even trying."

"So, are you going to show him?"

"Hmm…It is late. I will show him tomorrow. The last thing we need is him running off into the desert at night."

Deyl left the room, and Dente went back to his work. Tomorrow he would show Kroy what he'd discovered. Maybe, just maybe, they would get the chance they needed to survive.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next morning, Kroy was on his way to see Dente. He had heard that Dente had wanted to show him something, and he was curious since Dente never showed others what he was working on until it was done.

As he entered, Dente looked up at him.

"Ah, Kroy. Good to see you. You are just on time, as always."

"Good morning, Dente. You wanted me?"

"Ah, yes. Sit and we can talk."

Kroy was now very interested in this secret of Dente's, and sat down eagerly.

Dente started.

"The other day, one of the scouts came across the remains of something. It is very old, and as it is very worn down, and we cannot I.D. it."

"That is extremely interesting, Dente, but I do not know why…"

Dente cut him off. "Just listen; I'll explain it in a moment."

"Anyway, we looked through the wreckage, and found a small piece of silicon; it appears to be an ancient computer chip."

Kroy was astonished. "Silicon hasn't been used in computer chips for hundreds of years!"

"Exactly, This was very old, remember? Well, it took some time, but I managed to hook it up to the analyzer. It had a log of an old scientist, but I had trouble reading it."

"Why would that be?" asked Kroy.

"First, it was in an older dialect, our same language, but still… Also, the data was corroded, as can be expected after all this time.

But enough of that. I finally managed to load the data bits to my computer. Have a look"

Dente turned his screen towards Kroy and accessed a document.

Fina Log- year 2

As I can not wit much long, I consciousness final capsl

Located moun deser, contains great angerous power upraes.

g filetopo

DTL

Kroy read the document, and then turned to Dente.

"From what I could make out, there is something in some mountains that has great power, or at least, great for what was the date? 2XXX?"

Dente laughed. "We should be glad real dating systems aren't that vague in year dates, huh? Although, 2XXX is about the funniest date I've ever heard."

Dente sobered, and then continued talking.

"There was also heavily corroded map data, but I'm pretty sure the location is somewhere in these mountains."

Kroy lit up. "Maybe I could find this great power? Perhaps it could help us with our troubles?"

Suddenly, Kroy's face expressed worry.

"But wait. Didn't say something about a great danger, too? I wonder if this would be worth going after. If it's something that could destroy us, I wouldn't want to endanger anyone. Do you think it's worth the risk?"

Dente's reply was a wise one. "That is the thing with power. When you take a gamble with it, you must be able to weigh out the costs of either outcome. Only when you have a strong motivation is it worth risking everything."

Kroy thought about that for a while.

"If this is a great power, it may be able help everyone escape a horrible fate. But if it truly is dangerous, that may just help our destruction. But we are lost without hope, so it is hope that I choose to follow. I will seek out this power, and if it is dangerous I will do anything in my capabilities to keep damage to a minimum."

"Very well then. I will give you the co-ordinates expressed in the file. Remember though, that the geological layout will have changed over the years, so finding this will not be easy."

Kroy nodded as he walked out the door. As he headed to the bike hanger, he wondered what this power could be. Could it be a weapon, capable of mass destruction? Would it be a fierce beast? Or maybe, like in the stories of so long ago, it would be a hero, who would free them from their bondage. Little did Kroy expect how much things would change.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

That night, Kroy set out under the cover of darkness. Luckily, his destination was not very far from the encampment. Using the moon as his light, he wove in and out of the desert shrubs and the many boulders that littered his path.

His target was only 2 miles off, and looked like it was in a large mountain. Kroy activated his scanner.

"1 mile to… Wait. What is that?" Kroy thought as a large blip appeared on his screen. "It looks like there is a tunnel under ground."

Kroy slowed, and hopped to the ground. "It looks big enough, and the co-ordinates could have been a little off"

Kroy grabbed his shovel off the ride chaser and began to dig. Abruptly, his shovel broke through the roof of the cave, and, after tying a safety line, he descended down into the cave. He looked around at the magnificent cavern.

Stalactites and stalagmites were everywhere, and the cave was light up by crystals in the enormous rock walls.

"Wow… Dente would love this place" He took a closer look at the crystals, which all shimmered a faint, soft blue.

Looking further down the cave, he noticed a small opening, with a pink light dully shining through the gap.

Almost as if in a trance, he walked towards the light. Looking within the cavity, he saw a pink bubble surrounding a tall machine.

"Wha? A force field?" Kroy then stepped towards it, to see if he could find a way to shut it down. When he was so close he could touch the machine, (if not for the energy shield),

A loud voice boomed out and echoed through the cave.

"You are not supposed to be here. You must leave, immediately!"

Kroy, startled, stammered out a reply. "I-I cannot do that. I have come in peace, and my business is very important."

There was silence for a moment, and then the force field de-activated. Kroy took a step forward, and the voice immediately boomed out at him again.

"Come no closer."

Kroy halted, and as he did so, a faint blue hologram of a man appeared in the machine. It looked him over, almost as if it were alive and with him.

"You are not X, yet you very much resemble him. Who, and what are you?"

Kroy was taken aback. He'd never heard of a recording seeming so…lifelike.

"My name is Kroy, I am a Reploid. Who is thi…"

"I will ask the questions, and if I see fit, give you some answers. Now then, Why are you here? What is it that you want?"

"I am part of a group of reploids, and we are being attacked by a party of evil reploids. We do not have the means or resources necessary to protect ourselves, so I came looking for a power I heard about."

"And how did you hear of this power?"

We found an old data chip in the ruins of…something."

The man was silent now, and Kroy was certain it was alive, for it was far too intelligent and perceptive to be anything else.

"By the things you say, and the way they are said, you are in danger, that much is true. Now let me tell you a few things."

Kroy nodded in agreement. He had not thought that the man would believe him.

"My name is Dr. Thomas Light. Several hundred years ago, I created the ultimate robot, so advanced he was like nothing else the world had ever seen.

But the world was not ready for him, so I sealed him away and scattered upgrade capsules throughout the lands, to wait for X when he was revived, so he could better protect humanity."

"Is this the X you spoke of earlier?'

"Yes. My second great achievement, Megaman X. He was of course found in due time, and judging by your own design, I can see that my technology has been duplicated, to an extent."

"After I had placed my capsules, I uploaded my mind to one final capsule, so as to preserve myself to be able to help mankind in the future. As such, this was the greatest of my capsules, and now you have found it."

Kroy stood in wonder. That something so old could survive so long, without any decay, was miraculous. "Where would X be now?"

"I do not know. If he is not around to help you, I will give you a choice. You can leave here in search of X, which would doubtless be near impossible, or you can take a stand and fight for your own people."

"I will fight. I do not think that we have time to go on this search. We have waited too long as it is."

"Then it is decided. Enter this capsule, Kroy"

Kroy nodded, and stepped inside the capsule. A light flashed back and forth over him, and a device came down. It plugged into him, and a flash of pain ran through him.

"AAAAGGGHHH!!!!" Kroy screamed, falling unconscious and out of the capsule.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Evlyn walked down towards the outpost they had stationed a bit away from the settlement. She was a tall black reploid, with wiry blonde hair protruding from the back of her helmet. She was armored in similar fashion to Lagnas, with a small plasma generator on her back, feeding a magazine storage on her sides, at hip level.

"Any sign of detection?"

"No, Ma'am. Are we good to go?"

Evlyn sighed. She hated all this organization. She just wanted to get down there and kill. The feeling it gave her was worth everything. All that pain, suffering…

"Ma'am?" asked the reploid, interrupting her thought.

"Yeah, sure. Tonight we'll strike, like Lagnas ordered."

How could someone be so psychotic and yet so… sane? Lagnas was definitely a weird one. But his time would come, oh yes. She never swore her allegiance, not even close. In fact, no one had. Lagnas ruled by fear, so she would rule by terror.

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As he rode back to the camp, Megaman Zeta had a lot on his mind. Would he be too foolhardy with his powers? That would be worse than not having them. If he was killed, Lagnas could take his parts. He decided he'd have to play it safe until he could get a full measure of his capabilities.

Wait, why couldn't he now? Slowing to a stop, Zeta stepped down off his Ride Chaser.

"A Megabuster, huh? Well, let's try it out."

Without even needing to think about it, his forearm re-formatted itself into a sleek, cylindrical arm cannon.

"So, I guess it just fires whenever I want it to."

Testing his theory, he pointed his buster towards a rock, and tried to fire. Nothing happened.

"Drat. I wish that the Dr. told me how to use it."

He once again aimed his buster, and tried a different method. This time, he decided to try and to fire like he would do anything else, it was a part of him now, Why wouldn't it act like one?

Suddenly, his buster discharged a blast of plasma and seared the rock, just missing it.

"Huh, that's cool. It worked. I should probably work on my aim a bit though."

He jumped back on his bike and sped off again, this time practicing his aim at moving targets as he raced through the desert. He was getting better, but he still wasn't very good.

He glanced ahead of him, and something caught his eye. It was a maverick camp, by the looks of it. He stopped his ride chaser, and hopped off quickly, dragging it behind a large rock. He peeked out for a look.

There were some shelters, a tent or two, and some mavericks milling about.

"There's not many of them, so they must be confident. I wonder who's commanding them? I hope it's not Lagnas. I wouldn't be able to do anything against him."

When the activity slowed down a bit, he got up and zoomed off on his ride chaser towards the camp.

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As Zeta arrived at the camp, he realized that how much his appearance had actually changed. No one would recognize him now. He started to have second thoughts, when someone spotted him.

"Hey, you! Who are you?"

"It's me, Kroy. I need to see Dente!"

"Dente? He's busy right now. Look, how am I supposed to know that you're not one of Lagnas's men?"

"You don't. But can you at least give him a message for me?"

The reploid started in surprise.

"Well…I guess I can… What do you need to tell him?"

"Tell him that Kroy found it."

"Found it? What's it?"

"He'll understand. But, more importantly, there is a band of mavericks over to the south. They look like they're getting ready for an attack."

"A-a maverick attack? Okay, I'm going to trust you on this. I'll go tell Dente, but you better not try any funny business."

As the reploid ran off to tell Dente the news, Zeta sighed, and sat down on a boulder.

"I think I'll go scope out that camp again. No use idling here."

When the reploid return, all he saw was the shadow of Zeta disappearing over the hillside.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Evlyn walked down towards the outpost they had stationed a bit away from the settlement. She was a tall black reploid, with wiry blonde hair protruding from the back of her helmet. She was armored in similar fashion to Lagnas, with a small plasma generator on her back, feeding a magazine storage on her sides, at hip level.

"Any sign of detection?"

"No, Ma'am. Are we good to go?"

Evlyn sighed. She hated all this organization. She just wanted to get down there and kill. The feeling it gave her was worth everything. All that pain, suffering…

"Ma'am?" asked the reploid, interrupting her thought.

"Yeah, sure. Tonight we'll strike, like Lagnas ordered."

How could someone be so psychotic and yet so… sane? Lagnas was definitely a weird one. But his time would come, oh yes. She never swore her allegiance, not even close. In fact, no one had. Lagnas ruled by fear, so she would rule by terror.

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As he rode back to the camp, Megaman Zeta had a lot on his mind. Would he be too foolhardy with his powers? That would be worse than not having them. If he was killed, Lagnas could take his parts. He decided he'd have to play it safe until he could get a full measure of his capabilities.

Wait, why couldn't he now? Slowing to a stop, Zeta stepped down off his Ride Chaser.

"A Megabuster, huh? Well, let's try it out."

Without even needing to think about it, his forearm re-formatted itself into a sleek, cylindrical arm cannon.

"So, I guess it just fires whenever I want it to."

Testing his theory, he pointed his buster towards a rock, and tried to fire. Nothing happened.

"Drat. I wish that the Dr. told me how to use it."

He once again aimed his buster, and tried a different method. This time, he decided to try and to fire like he would do anything else, it was a part of him now, Why wouldn't it act like one?

Suddenly, his buster discharged a blast of plasma and seared the rock, just missing it.

"Huh, that's cool. It worked. I should probably work on my aim a bit though."

He jumped back on his bike and sped off again, this time practicing his aim at moving targets as he raced through the desert. He was getting better, but he still wasn't very good.

He glanced ahead of him, and something caught his eye. It was a maverick camp, by the looks of it. He stopped his ride chaser, and hopped off quickly, dragging it behind a large rock. He peeked out for a look.

There were some shelters, a tent or two, and some mavericks milling about.

"There's not many of them, so they must be confident. I wonder who's commanding them? I hope it's not Lagnas. I wouldn't be able to do anything against him."

When the activity slowed down a bit, he got up and zoomed off on his ride chaser towards the camp.

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As Zeta arrived at the camp, he realized that how much his appearance had actually changed. No one would recognize him now. He started to have second thoughts, when someone spotted him.

"Hey, you! Who are you?"

"It's me, Kroy. I need to see Dente!"

"Dente? He's busy right now. Look, how am I supposed to know that you're not one of Lagnas's men?"

"You don't. But can you at least give him a message for me?"

The reploid started in surprise.

"Well…I guess I can… What do you need to tell him?"

"Tell him that Kroy found it."

"Found it? What's it?"

"He'll understand. But, more importantly, there is a band of mavericks over to the south. They look like they're getting ready for an attack."

"A-a maverick attack? Okay, I'm going to trust you on this. I'll go tell Dente, but you better not try any funny business."

As the reploid ran off to tell Dente the news, Zeta sighed, and sat down on a boulder.

"I think I'll go scope out that camp again. No use idling here."

When the reploid return, all he saw was the shadow of Zeta disappearing over the hillside.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The first rays of sunlight peeked up over the mountains, piercing the darkness and running through the air at a high speed. A few of these rays passed a tent and were deflected by the metals of Evlyn's sword.

Swiftly, Evlyn turned to her troops.

"Now then, let us wipe out these pathetic reploids. They do not fight, and they will not live!"

Excited, the mavericks started running to the reploid camp, with Evlyn running much faster and farther ahead.

Yes, there it was…The killing would be a wonderful show.

Destroying the tent wall, Evlyn burst in, ready to destroy.

"Hmm… It appears they've holed up in another tent."

Shredding the other tent side with her blade, she stepped outside, and was greatly frustrated. Several other tents had been destroyed now, and they were all empty.

"Somehow…They knew we were coming. They had to have known."

Enraged, she went to the nearest reploid. "The tents are empty! All of them! Do you know what this means?!"

Before the reploid could say anything, she cut him off with the answer.

"It means they knew we were coming! It means someone told them we were coming! Yet the guards say that no-one saw us!"

The soldier stood there for a moment. He knew what was coming. Evlyn was mad, no, furious. Now that she didn't get her massacre, she would work out her anger on him.

"Uh, maybe someone snuck out during the night?"

"You idiot! Of course it was at night! Why are you even here?"

Raising her large sword high in the air, she prepared to strike the reploid, when suddenly there was a call from one of the few remaining tents. Evlyn looked her victim with disgust. "I will take care of you later."

Approaching the tent, she barked "What is it?"

"We found a message addressed to you on this table."

"What? This is as good as admitting that there is a traitor, the fool."

Evlyn read the note, and then she crumpled it up and threw it on the ground.

"It would appear that there is a foolish attacker coming from the east mountain. Let us prepare to show them the error of betraying me!"

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Zeta peered out from a small cave. Last night when he went back to the maverick camp, he was surprised to see Evlyn. Lagnas usually tried to hold her back due to being uncontrollable. Fortunately, Zeta also knew of Evlyn's kill first ask later tendencies, which is why he placed the note in the tent. From his position on the west mountain, he had a clear view of their size and activities.

Perhaps he could even hit some of them from here. Forming his Megabuster, he leveled it at the center of the group, and was about to fire it when he remembered what Dr. Light told him about a charge shot.

"He said to just hold the blast a bit, but I wonder how I'll know when it's enough. Will it just fire?"

Turning back into a deeper part of his cave, he aimed his buster at a stalactite and tried a charge shot. At first it just hummed a little, and then the front started to glow brightly. He was contemplating firing when streams of energy started flowing around his buster, almost like fog on the ground. Suddenly, the energy grew a dark pink and his arm felt very warm.

"Ah! That's enough!" he cried as he released the shot. The plasma flew out in a high energy stream that not only hit the rock, but disintegrated it, and the rest flew along and charred the wall.

"Wow, that was strong. I had no idea this thing was that high-caliber."

Starting another charge shot, he repositioned himself and took aim at the mavericks again. When the energy fog started again, he fired off his shot, which flew down and destroyed a few of the mavericks. Immediately after firing, Zeta leapt out from behind the rock, springing high into the air. While he was still ascending, he fired off several more shots at the crowd of mavericks, and then landed on a rock a little higher up.

Evlyn had seen the glow, and when she realized it was a weapon, she leapt behind a rock, drawing her blade. Moments later her troops were in disarray, dizzied by the surprise attack. Evlyn looked up and saw him standing on the opposite mountain.

"It was a trap… He will suffer!"

Evlyn reached down and grabbed a plasma magazine from her hip, then insert it into the bottom of her sword hilt. In one swift motion she jumped up onto her boulder, then kicking off that, she made a mighty leap across the canyon. While she did this, she activated her saber, causing it to glow a bright blue and sizzle with energy.

Zeta saw Evlyn coming, and prepared to attack. He jumped down and ran towards her, buster charging and ready. As the two neared, he released his shot at her, which was followed by a massive burst of light. Zeta quickly jumped up, and Evlyn appeared from the light, unscathed. He fired off several more shots, which were all blocked by her quick blade.

"YYYAAAAAAA!!!!!" screamed Evlyn as she dashed at Zeta, swinging her blade with a mighty swing. Zeta dropped down to the ground and somersaulted, and in mid-roll, he fired off a shot. Evlyn didn't see it coming, but as Zeta was still unsteady with his weapon, he missed. Evlyn however was much more battle hardened and quickly turned around, and swung her blade with a speed and power hard to fathom.

Zeta dodged swing after swing, but Evlyn was driving him into a corner. He would have to act soon, or he was done for.


End file.
